Dr. Kubassek János: Cholnoky Jenő természetábrázoló művészete (Érd, 2002)
Dr. János Kubassek: Jenő Cholnoky - a Hungarian geographer and artist - The exploring geographer of Asia - a solitary expedition to China - The university professor - climber of volcanoes
— ^ o the documentation of what he had observed. These early experiences formed his character: he always made artistic and visually expressive drawings, paintings or took photographs of the landscape to help Iiis readers understand Nature. Cholnoky travelled a lot within the Carpathian Basin, often in terribly harsh weather. He was not just interested in the terrain, but also in the people and communities living there. This explains why a large number of Cholnoky's pictures and descriptions are of great value for ethnographers even today. His artistic works were first exhibited in the Hungarian Geographical Museum of Érd in 1987. THE EXPLORING GEOGRAPHER OF ASIA - A SOLITARY EXPEDITION TO CHINA Cholnoky meí Lajos Lóczy, a famous Hungarian geologist whose explorations had taken him through Asia during Cholnoky's university years. (Lóczy discovered the Transhimalaya Range.) Lóczy helped him and gave him the backing to organise an expedition to China in 1896. Cholnoky visited and studied vast tracts of China, but he lived in privation and constantly suffered from being short of money. It is a wonder he was able to see so much in just one and a half years: he studied the canals and flood protection works in the delta of the Yangtze River, helped with the drainage of water from the coal mines around Nanking, toured the Gobi Desert and Manchuria, where he studied the paddy fields, made a close study of the Yellow River, and toured the Eastern Kunlun Mountains. Cholnoky did not only study the hydrology, the rocks and morphology of the almost limitless landscape of China, but also provided artistically illustrated descriptions of the inhabitants and the picturesque scenery. The harmonious relationship between land, nature and man is strikingly expressed in his works. THE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR - CLIMBER OF VOLCANOES Cholnoky spent a lot of time in preparing for field trips, where he was an excellent professional guide. Studying volcanism and post-volcanic activities was one of his special interests. He visited several dangerous volcanoes Vesuv, Etna, Stromboli and in the Mediterranean. In Italy, he became deeply involved in the smdy of antiquities.
